Improved fork-blank



Q i timbri .tant

,sa taient @time Letters Patent No. 84,37 7 dated November 24, 1868.

IMPROVE!) FORK-BLANK The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom' it 'may concern:

Be itl known that I, J. C. RICHARDSON, of Ilion, in the county of' Herkimer, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement iu Blank for -Spading and other Forks; and I do hereby declare that thc following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the saine, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l representsl a bar of'- metal, with diagrams showing the outlines ofthe form ofthe blanks, and

Figure 2 represents a blank, as cut from a bar, and also the finished anda partly finished form in blue and red.

Similar letters ofreferenceindicate like parts.

This invention relates to improvements iu the manufacture of' spading, manure, or other similar forks, the object of which is to simplify` and cheapen the cost of the manufacture.

It consists iu punching or cutting the blank out of 'a plainstrip of metal in such a form that no metal is wasted, and which form facilitates `the process of finishing the blank, as Will be hereinafter described.

I propose to cut from a bar of' steel, previously prepared, of suitable width, a blank, A, as shown by the blackl lines in fig. 2, and in outline in fig. l, by dies, suitably formed, to give the configuration there shown, and to separate the parts a and b, as represented by the lines c, the said parts c a and b b being the portion of the blank from which the tines are to be formed, and the part l is the portion forming the shank when finished. This part is punched out ofthe bar, leaving a space, e, which forms the separation between the blank tines ae of the succeeding` blank.

The enlarged end of' the part (I, formed by a corresponding enlargement-of the punch, serves to leave the space between the blank tines a ay at e of the right form for the finished shape, and saves the labor of spreading .the tines a c', as is done in the present methods of constructing forks, and the curved form given to the shoulders ofthe blank at f is also retained in the fork When finished, thereby saving a considerable labor in the finishing-operation, and furnishing a much stronger shank than when the latter is cut from the blank at right angles to its finished position, and bent up to the finished form, which often cracks and becomes weakened at the shoulders in bending.

To finish a fork from the blank herein shown, the end tines are turned up at right angles to the shank, and drawn out by rolling or hammering, as shownl in red at g, fig. 2. The two central tines, together With the shank, are also drawn out ina similar manner, until. they assume the form shown in blue at a (l, g..2. After the tines have been reduced to the proper shape, the outer ones are bent down, as represented at b', in the same figure, and the fork completed.

In formingthedies or cutting-apparatus, care is taken to construct them so as to dispose the metal in the right proportion, in the different parts ofthe blank, to give to each part when finished its due proportion of metal.

The blanks so formed may be finished up, by the present arrangement of forging or rolling-machinery, at less cost than the blanks asusually prepared.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let@ ters Patent, is

The blank A, formed by punching or otherwise severing it from a bar of suitable width, with the space e c', slits c, and shoulders j; substantially as and for the. purpose described.

vThe above specification of my invention signed by me, this 4th day of August, 1868.

J. C. RICHARDSON. .VVitnessesz Fnriuk BLOCKLEY, ALE-x. F. ROBERTS. 

